With The Seismic Uncertainty Of San Francisco’s Piers 30-32, What Does The Future Hold?

The venue will be located on Piers 30-32 on the waterfront in San Francisco. This area is in close proximity to BART, Caltrain and Muni stops, ferry terminals and the Bay Bridge, while also being located within easy walking distance of the Financial District in Downtown San Francisco. View preliminary concept designs, facts and area maps below. (Credits: Snøhetta & AECOM - official architecture team)

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— The future of Piers 30 to 32 in San Francisco is sinking and it’s going to take a massive life saver to rescue it.

Just how expensive? We’re talking $44 million just to keep the piers up. It’ll probably be another $100 million if you wanted to do even more. If you don’t know, these are the vastly expansive and empty piers that can be seen coming into the city from northbound I-80. They sit just south of the Bay Bridge where Bryant Street meets the Embarcadero

It was to be the home of the America’s Cup and later the site of the proposed Golden State Warriors’ arena, but neither of those ideas panned out. It had even been pitched as one of the last-ditch effort ideas for the Lucas Museum. Of course that didn’t work out either as the filmmaker decided to go with Chicago.

With The Seismic Uncertainty Of San Francisco’s Piers 30-32, What Does The Future Hold?

Currently the piers are used as a parking lot that may or may not be used in the years to come. It’s no secret that Piers 30-32 aren’t exactly the most seismically sound structures either. The San Francisco port engineering staff could not provide any assurance that they would survive a high-magnitude seismic event.

When the Loma-Prieta Earthquake rocked the Bay Area in 1989, in San Francisco, Mayor Willie Brown had secured plenty of federal funds to revamp City Hall. The piers, at that time, were brought up for upgrades too, but again, that didn’t pan out. It really leaves you scratching your head and wondering, ‘Is this thing going to fall in the water or what?’ as you park your car. They don’t even really allow trucks to park there on a full-time basis because it’s such an issue.

Phil Matier

Whether it’s politics, personalities or analysis Phil Matier is one of best informed insiders in the Bay Area.
In addition to his work with KPIX 5, Matier and fellow journalist Andy Ross co-write a news column for the San Francisco Chronicle. The...